What Business Ethics Can Learn From Entrepreneurship
Journal of Private Enterprise, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 49-57, 2009
5 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2009
Date Written: May 11, 2009
Abstract
Entrepreneurship is increasingly studied as a fundamental and foundational economic phenomenon. It has, however, received less attention as an ethical phenomenon. Much contemporary business ethics assumes its core application purposes to be (1) to stop predatory business practices and (2) to encourage philanthropy and charity by business. Certainly predation is immoral and charity has a place in ethics, neither should be the first concerns of ethics. Instead, business ethics should make fundamental the values and virtues of entrepreneurs - i.e., those self-responsible and productive individuals who create value and trade with others to win-win advantage.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Virtue Ethics
JEL Classification: A12, A13, L26
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation